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An explosion occurred around 2 p.m. Monday at a San Diego hotel
construction site. 14 workers were injured, 5 of which were in critical
condition. Although authorities haven’t made an official report, they said that
the cause was, most likely, a gas leakage.
According to The Associated Press, the explosion damaged a
part of the Hilton hotel’s façade and sent out debris on a driveway.
People who were around the area, initially thought that a
bomb exploded as there was just smoke.
“It looked like a bomb. It shook the whole building like a
bomb,” said Matt McBride, general manager of a bar located about 150 yards away from
the site, reported The Associated Press.
Perry Peake, San Diego Deputy Fire-Rescue Chief, said that
the explosion happened in a part of the building which contained gas and
electric utilities.
Some of the victims were transported to the UCSD Medical
Center and 3 of the 5 critically
injured workers were in the burn unit as they had burns that covered up to 35
percent of their bodies.
Hospital spokeswoman Kimberly Edwards said Monday evening that
six of the workers from UCSD had been released, one was in a stable condition
and the 3 burned workers were in induced comas.
As for the building, it didn’t burn, but suffered serious
damage.
The Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel was scheduled to open in
December. According to The Associated Press, there were about 400 workers
inside the building at the time of the explosion.
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